There's Something in the Woods
by FazzyGrl.22
Summary: When five friends decide to spend a relaxing weekend out in the woods, they awaken something... Something that was better left alone.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors' Note: **

FG.22: Heyyyyyy everyone! Well well well, a new fic here! Yes, yes, I have plenty of other ones that need to be finished, but don't worry! This one _will_ get done. ;) This is actually a fun little project that's being written by both me and the lovely Little Misanthrope (her fanfiction account) also known as _ohmygoditsamber_ on tumblr!

Since both of us have been mourning over the fact that there aren't many Hetalia horror fics that AREN'T about snapped characters or 2p!talia, we decided to rectify that!

We hope you will enjoy our little epic. And if you can guess what we're crossing Hetalia over with, you get cookies. ;) Now, let's begin!

* * *

Chapter 1

It was the end of senior year. Three friends, Gilbert, Elizaveta and Alfred had just graduated from high school and were eager to kick off their summer with a trip to a woodland cabin with Alfred's older brother and his friend, Ivan. They would be staying out in the woods for a whole weekend and Alfred especially was excited. It had been quite a long time since he had been able to spend time with his older brother, and he loved the outdoors. At around one in the afternoon, the well-known car that belonged to Arthur pulled up in the driveway of Alfred's home, where he and his two friends were waiting.

After the car rumbled to a stop, Arthur stepped out of it and smiled at the teenagers. He was about to introduce himself to his younger brother's friends when Alfred ran at him and pulled him into a tight hug.

"What's up, bro? I missed you!" Alfred grinned brightly at his brother. "This is Gilbert and Elizaveta." He pointed at his friends before noticing the other person in Arthur's car. "Is that Ivan?"

"That's right," Arthur answered as he gestured for his friend to come out of the car. "He's a bit of a quiet fellow, but he's a good egg. I thought a weekend out in the woods would do him good. We've both been stressed out from midterms, you see."

Arthur smiled as he ruffled his brother's hair. "I'm so glad to see you, Al," he spoke fondly.

Grinning, Alfred playfully swatted his hands away before going back over to his friends. "Let's put our stuff in the car!" He grabbed his bags before heading over to the car, leaving Gil to try and carry his bags and Elizaveta's at the same time.

"I can do it myself, Gil." She grabbed her bags and his own before walking off to the car.

Gilbert shrugged and raised his hands up, palms facing outwards. "Whatever you say, babe," he said. "Hey, Al, it was real nice of you to invite us to the cabin! I can't wait to kick back and relax!" He grinned.

"Hey, is there a lake where we're going?" He suddenly asked.

"A lake?" Alfred shrugged before looking over at his brother. "Artie, is there a lake near the cabin?"

Elizaveta rolled her eyes as she helped Alfred pack the trunk. "We're not going skinny dipping, Gilbert. Okay?"

"Yeah! That's how people get killed in horror movies! They do stupid stuff like that!" Yes, Alfred really did believe in slasher movie logic. It would keep them alive, after all!

"Aw, c'mon. I only asked because I packed my bathing suit!" Gilbert laughed. He was a pretty laid back fellow, who always knew how to have fun. That was probably why he and Al were friends. "Plus, you're the one who suggested skinny dipping, Liz. Not me."

Elizaveta rolled her eyes and shut the trunk before going over to Gil and throwing an arm around his shoulders. "I know. I helped you pack, remember?" She laughed a bit and mussed up Gilbert's hair.

"Well, I think there is a small lake... We can go swimming later." Arthur said, once the three friends stopped chatting, and he smiled before getting back into his car. "We should get going. It's not far, but I would like to get there before nightfall."

The younger ones hustled into the car and Ivan and Arthur returned to their seats. As they began their drive, they decided to get to know one another a little better.

"So, where are you from, Ivan?" Gilbert asked the quiet man.

Ivan peered at Gilbert from the rearview mirror. "Moscow."

"How'd ya meet Artie? Are you guys in the same classes?" Alfred leaned forward, sticking his head in the gap between the two front seats.

A small smile was on Ivan's face. "We both have the same language classes."

"Yes," Arthur said as he continued to focus on the road. "We are in Latin together."

"Though he's much better at dead languages than I am," Ivan said amusedly.

"Arthur's always been good with weird, old shit." Alfred laughed and sat back as his brother turned to frown at him. "I'm kidding! Calm down, Artie."

With a sigh, Arthur glanced at the kids in the back seat and turned his attention to Elizaveta. "How do you put up with these two?"

"With a looooot of patience," she said, with a longsuffering sigh.

"Aw, what does that mean?" Gilbert exclaimed. "You know you're the one who chased after me!" He winked.

"I did nothing of the sort, Gilbert. That was you. Even Alfred can prove it." Elizaveta laughed at that and glanced over at Alfred. "Isn't that true, Alfred?"

The blond teenager laughed before elbowing his friend in ribs. "It's true, Gilbert. You whined about her ignoring you for soooo long."

"Ugh. Whatever. You two are no fun," Gilbert pouted and sat back in his seat.

Alfred laughed again and relaxed, trying to get comfortable for the long drive. The car passed through the town and onto a road that would lead out to the massive spread of woods that lay beyond. It took a good hour or two before they passed by a lake. They could look out the windows and see the water down below.

The three in the back seat glanced out their windows, looking at the lake. That meant that they could go swimming later!

Soon the car turned onto a rougher, dirt road and they came upon an old bridge.

"Can it hold us?" Ivan asked as the car came to a halt.

Alfred looked through the windshield and frowned at the rickety old bridge. "Should we get out while you drive over, Arthur?"

"Hmm... Yes, that might be wise," his brother said.

The car stopped and the four of them got out, walking carefully over the bridge, followed by Arthur in the car. The bridge creaked and groaned from the weight, but Arthur continued to move forward slowly.

Alfred nervously walked over the bridge, trying not to glance down at the water below them. He jumped a little when he felt someone grab his arm and he looked up, trying to smile a little bit at Elizaveta. "I'm okay, Liz..."

"Just keep walking, Alfred... Don't look down, alright?"

He nodded and glanced back at the car as it continued to slowly cross the bridge. Ivan was in front of it, walking backwards to keep an eye on the bridge.

"Slowly," he said. "That's right. You're good."

But the bridge continued to make worrisome noises. When Alfred, Elizaveta and Gilbert had crossed to the other side, they watched worriedly as the car followed. Arthur continued to drive slowly, trying to ignore the noises that the bridge was making. He finally made it across the bridge and sighed in relief. When they returned home, he would be sure to tell the park service to fix up the bridge.

"All right!" Gilbert cheered. "That was some good driving there, man!" He said, running up to Arthur's window.

Arthur grinned and waved to the other to get back inside. "Let's be on our way again!"

Alfred, Ivan and Elizaveta went back over to the car and got inside, glad to be off that shaky, old bridge.

"How much further until we get to the cabin, Artie?" Alfred leaned forward again, watching his older brother start to drive through the woods again.

"Not too far now. Only half a mile."

"Good! Because my legs are getting cramped from being squeezed inside this little car," Ivan murmured good-naturedly.

Alfred grinned and sat back, glad that they were almost there. Plus, he wanted to claim a bedroom first.

The half a mile didn't last long and soon the five of them saw a small, run down cabin looming before them. It looked like it hadn't been lived in for several years.

"THAT is the cabin you were talking about?" Gilbert exclaimed, giving Alfred a side-long glance.

Alfred shrugged a little bit. "Well... We haven't exactly been able to go for a few years... I mean, you know how crazy mine and Artie's families were." He felt his ears turning red, embarrassed by the fact that the family cabin he had raved about to his friends looked like crap.

"We should have hired a cleaning person or something," Arthur muttered. He pulled up the car right in front of the cabin and put it in parking. For a minute the five of them just stared at the small structure. It was a mere three-bedroom, sparse little thing. The wood was chipping, the windows were shuttered and there was one lone swing on the front porch just barely swaying in the wind.

Alfred chewed on his lower lip before glancing back over at his friends. Gilbert shrugged and gently pushed Elizaveta to the car door. "What are we waiting for? Let's go pick our rooms!"

That was enough incentive for them all to get out of the car. They stretched for a minute or two before heading to the cabin's door.

Elizaveta poked Alfred on the arm and smiled. "For what it's worth," she said, "I don't think it's too bad. It's got kind of an old, artsy feel to it!"

"Thanks Liz..." Alfred smiled at her, glad that he had a friend like her. Gilbert was fun to goof around with but Liz was always great at making people feel better.

Gilbert ran ahead with Arthur and Ivan to open the cabin. He knew Alfred wanted first pick of the rooms and he was going to beat him to it!

Arthur reached up for the doorpost. "There should be a key up there. At least that's what our dad said," he said, grunting as he tried to reach up.

Ivan chuckled. "Need help?"

Alfred grabbed Elizaveta's arm and dragged her over to the door. "Artie, you're so short!" He teased his older brother, knowing just which button to push to annoy him.

"Shut up, Al," Arthur said in a sickeningly sweet voice, "before you find yourself flying head first into the window there."

With a laugh, Alfred hid behind Elizaveta, just in case his brother did decide to throw him through the window. He heard Gilbert laughed at him and he stuck his tongue out at his friend. "Shut it, Gil!"

"Why else do you think he keeps me around?" Ivan joked as he grabbed hold of a key lying on top of the door post.

"You know what? I think we could get used to this guy," Gilbert smirked. "I like his sense of humor."

Ivan chuckled in response.

"Ugh. No respect around here!" Arthur groused out. He playfully punched Ivan in the shoulder as his friend unlocked the door.

Elizaveta smiled, glad that Gilbert seemed to like Ivan. Her boyfriend always seemed to have trouble making friends, which was why she was glad that he and Alfred had been friends for so long. "Alright, how are we going to split up the rooms?"

"Looks like someone's the odd one out here," Gilbert teased as Ivan opened the door

Rolling her eyes, Elizaveta playfully shoved Gilbert. "Of course. I wouldn't share a room with you if I had to," she teased.

"Well, how about you have a room to yourself and us four guys share the other two," Arthur offered graciously. Elizaveta thanked him, grateful that she wouldn't have to make the decision herself. It was a bit awkward.

Alfred grinned and dragged Gilbert into the cabin. "Let's get the bigger room, Gil, before Arthur does!"

"Hey! I'm the one who will have to share a room with Mr. Gargantuan here!" Arthur objected, jabbing a thumb in Ivan's direction.

"I guess I deserve that," Ivan smirked.

Alfred turned and stuck his tongue out at Arthur before shoving Gil into the large bedroom. "This is the best room, Gil!"

"Aw yeah! Score!" The two shared a high five.

Meanwhile, the other three were surveying the inside of the cabin. Besides the bedrooms and the one bathroom down the hall, there was one wide open living room with a fireplace, a desk, some chairs and a sofa. There was also a kitchen and a table where they would eat meals. It wasn't very big but it was pretty homey.

Elizaveta stepped into the cabin, glancing over the things they would have to fix up. "Is there a broom here, Arthur? There's a lot of dirt and leaves on the floor. Do you think someone broke in?" There didn't seem to be any broken windows, so she didn't know how else the cabin could have gotten so messy.

"There should be one in the closet over there." Arthur pointed to a small closet near the kitchen.

"Do other people stay here?" Ivan asked, taking note of the mess on the floor.

"Not that I know of, but you never know." Arthur shrugged. "People like us may have gotten in here for a weekend. The key's not too hard to find."

Finding the broom, Elizaveta started to clean up. The cabin actually didn't look too bad once most of the dirt was gone. She made Alfred and Gilbert bring in the luggage and had Arthur and Ivan clean up the kitchen. What? Cleaning the kitchen was important!

"You guys done yet?" Gilbert asked, sticking his head into the kitchen. "We're gonna go swimming!"

Arthur rolled his eyes and set down his cleaning supplies. "Fine, fine. We'll go swimming."

"All right! Hey, Al! Art and Ivan are coming!" He called, running for the back door that led out to a small makeshift dock on the lake.

Alfred grinned, having gotten changed with Gilbert. He ran after him, leaving Elizaveta rolling her eyes at them as Ivan and Arthur put the cleaning supplies away and went to go get changed.

"You coming, Elizaveta?" Ivan asked.

She glanced at Ivan and nodded. "Yes, just let me go get changed."

**… … …**

The lake water was cool, just perfect in the warm weather outside. It was also deep enough to dive into and to fully swim around in. As Elizaveta walked out onto the deck in her swimsuit, she watched as the guys splashed around and dunked each other. At the moment, they were having the hardest time dunking Ivan, who was the biggest of the four guys.

Alfred swam over to Ivan, trying to push him under the water but failing. He laughed, deciding to just splash Ivan while Gilbert and Arthur tried to shove Ivan under the water.

Elizaveta laughed. "Why don't you guys just give up?" she teased.

"Because he's dunked all of us!" Gilbert yelled back at her, trying to push Ivan back under the water. Meanwhile, Ivan just continued to tread along with that serene smile on his face.

"I dunno," Elizaveta said. "It seems like a lost cause."

"Well, let's see you try!" Gilbert shouted back.

Alfred gave up and climbed back onto the dock, trying to catch his breath. "It's impossible to dunk him! He has some type of magic power!"

She laughed. "Magic power? Don't tell me you believe in that stuff, Al!"

"Well... not really. Artie does though. He keeps trying to make me believe in it." Alfred laughed and sat down next to her. "Do you?"

She shook her head, continuing to watch as her boyfriend and Alfred's brother kept tackling poor Ivan. She could tell that they were all having a blast, though.

"Nah. It's hard for me to believe in something I can't see."

"Yeah. I mean... I think ghosts are scary but I've never actually seen one, so... I guess maybe they don't exist."

Elizaveta shrugged. "Well, who knows? All those ghost hunters and priests think something is out there. Maybe we'll never know for sure."

"I guess not. I'm totally okay with that!" Alfred grinned, glad that he had never actually seen anything supernatural, despite his brother's insistence on its existence.

"Hey! You gonna actually do some swimming, Liz? Or did you just bring that swimsuit to get some sun?" Gilbert said, swimming up to the dock.

"Fine, fine." Elizaveta stood up and jumped off the dock, splashing Gilbert as she landed in the water.

"Ohhh cannonball... Is that how it's gonna be?" He challenged when she surfaced.

"Of course." Elizaveta grinned at him before splashing him again.

He wasted no time in making his move. With a maniacal laugh, he grabbed her by the waist and lifted her in the air, tossing her into the water.

"GILBERT!" she shouted.

Alfred laughed, glad that he was safe on the deck.

"Someone is dead meat," Ivan giggled.

"Ach! Help me, guys!" He laughed, trying to swim away from his angry girlfriend.

Elizaveta swam after him, catching up quickly and dunking him under the water.

"You totally deserved that," Arthur crowed, swimming beside Gilbert as he spluttered back up.

"Man, why are you always so violent, Liz?" Gilbert whined.

"Because it's the only way to keep you in line!" Elizaveta smiled before swimming around a little more.

They spent the rest of the afternoon just fooling around in the lake. When the sun began to set, they headed back inside to dry off and change clothes. It was nearly supper time when they all sat around the fireplace.

"So, who wants to cook tonight?" Arthur asked.

"Not you!" Alfred laughed as he scooted away from Arthur so his brother wouldn't hit him.

"I agree," Ivan chimed in. "I have tasted your cooking, Arthur, one too many times." He shuddered.

Arthur glared at the two of them. "And you call yourselves my brother and best friend."

"Friends are honest with each other." Ivan grinned.

"I can cook!" Gilbert offered.

"He's actually not bad," Elizaveta said, smiling at her boyfriend.

"Yeah! I can grill some steak or whatever. What did we bring?" He asked, looking at Alfred.

"I brought burgers!" Alfred grinned and got up to help Gilbert with the food.

"Why am I not surprised?" Arthur chuckled.

Out back there was an old shed where fortunately the two guys found a semi-rusty grill. Dragging the grill onto the front porch, the two friends started to grill up the burgers while the other three made some side dishes. Alfred dashed back inside to grab the right amount of condiments and additions for the burgers. He stressed that the only way they could eat them were if they were cheeseburgers and the others were too amused to object. Soon the burgers were grilled, the side dishes were prepared and everything was placed on the table.

The five friends sat down to eat, joking and laughing and having fun. They were all silenced when a loud bang came from the living room. No one moved for a moment before finally Elizaveta got up, determined to check things out.

"Maybe it's just an animal that got inside..."

"It must have been a big animal, then," Arthur muttered.

"Wait! Be careful, Liz!" Gil said, jumping up from his seat. He quickly strode up to her side.

Elizaveta grabbed the broom she had leaned against the wall earlier, holding it up to hit something just in case. The three still sitting down got up and followed her out into the living room. Slowly and carefully they looked around the room for any sign of intrusion. There was no sign of an animal in the cabin, however, and they couldn't hear any sort of scurrying or scratching.

"Do you see anything?" Arthur asked. He peered into the fireplace.

Alfred glanced around and noticed the cellar door was open. "Artie...? Did you go down to the basement earlier?"

They all looked at him. Sure enough, Alfred was standing in a corner of the room, peering down at what looked to be a trap door. It was wide open.

"No..." Arthur said slowly. He peered down into the cellar but all he could see were a couple of steps leading down. Besides that, everything was pitch black.

"Then how did it open?" Elizaveta whispered.

Alfred stepped back from the trap door, terrified. "Did anyone else go downstairs...?"

Gilbert shook his head and peered down into the cellar. "Should we go check it out?"

He looked at the others. Neither Elizaveta nor Alfred looked willing to go down there. Ivan seemed hesitant as well. Suddenly, Arthur walked over to the sofa where his backpack lay and he brought out a flashlight.

"I'll go. Better check to make sure there's nothing alive down there."

"I'll come with you! Don't worry, Liz, I'll protect you from any rats that might be hiding down there." Gilbert grinned at his girlfriend and kissed her cheek before heading down into the cellar with Arthur.

The steps creaked loudly as the two men descended into the dark cellar. Gilbert couldn't see much even with the help of Arthur's flashlight. He caught a glimpse of shelves and old chairs that looked too weak to hold anybody. The cellar was actually quite big. They continued walking around, looking to see if there was any animal scurrying around down there, but they couldn't hear anything, just the subtle sound of a leaky pipe somewhere drip, drip, dripping water.

Arthur shined his flashlight around the room, not spotting anything until the light glinted off something metal. He walked over to a table shoved in the corner of the cellar. The gleam that had caught his eye was a shotgun. "Where did this thing come from...?"

"Does your family like to hunt or anything?" Gilbert asked as he picked the gun up. He handled it with the right amount of expertise that showed he knew what he was doing.

"No. None of us have ever used a gun." Arthur frowned and looked around some more. The light landed on a strange book with a rather disturbing looking cover.

"Maybe there were some hunters that stayed here then," Gilbert mused as Arthur picked up the book. "There's something strange, though..." He muttered.

"What?" Arthur asked absently.

"This gun doesn't look like it's been used for a while; a good couple of years, at least."

"Hmm…" Arthur was distracted, quite interested in what looked to be an old book of ancient languages, and not exactly paying attention to Gilbert's concern about the gun.

Gilbert, in the meantime, suddenly felt nervous. Why? He wasn't exactly sure. He checked the gun barrel to see if it was loaded, and sure enough, two bullets were inside, ready to be fired.

_I wonder if there are any more bullets lying around? _He wondered to himself and figured that if there were more, they'd either be in a box or in a bag on one of these shelves. He decided to search for them for a minute. There was nothing much in the cellar, however. On the shelves were jars of some unknown substances that he hoped were just old, pickled vegetables. He went further past the table where Arthur still stood by, perusing the book.

"Hey, Arthur! Shine your flashlight over here!"

Arthur obliged, turning the flashlight on the table in Gilbert's direction. He still continued to look at the book.

With the help of the small beam of light, Gilbert came upon a remote corner of the cellar and found a trunk. Fortunately, it was unlocked. When he opened the trunk, it gave a massive creaking noise and Gilbert beheld several old pages of what looked to be grocery lists, as well as old news clippings. He shoved that aside, more interested in the hope that additional ammo was in the trunk. Finally, he came upon a small box and upon shaking it, heard metal clinking about inside. He had found bullets.

As he shut the trunk and stuck the box in his hoodie pocket, he felt that feeling of unease come over him again. He looked around warily. It just felt like he was being… watched. Suddenly, he heard something; something low and rumbling. It didn't sound like the house creaking or the pipes leaking. It sounded almost like an animal growling.

"A…Arthur…?" He called.

The growling continued.

"What?" Gilbert heard Arthur say.

"Did you hear something?"

"No."

The growling grew louder in his ear and he spun around to see nothing but shadows. He clutched the gun. There was _something _down here; something that seemed to be able to speak in a human voice… or something like a human voice.

_Join us… Join us…_

Gilbert slowly backed away and came back to the safe haven of the flashlight. Arthur finally looked up from the book.

"This is quite something. I'm gonna have to look at this more thoroughly. You should see – What's the matter?"

Gilbert stared at him. "Are you sure you didn't hear anything just now?" He asked.

Arthur shook his head. "No… What did you hear?"

Gilbert didn't answer. Instead, he just stared into the light and blinked. What was that? Was he hearing things? Had it just been an animal? Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him. He and Liz had watched a scary movie the other night…

"Ah… It was nothing. I think there's an animal down here or something."

"Oh. Should we try to catch it?" Arthur asked.

The last thing Gilbert wanted to do was stay down in this dark cellar. "Nah. If we keep the door closed, I think we'll be okay. Besides, the others are probably worrying about us."

Arthur frowned, but nodded. "Well, all right, if you say so. We might as well bring this stuff upstairs. There doesn't seem to be anything else useful down here." He picked up the book and turned back to the stairs.

"Yeah, you're right." Gilbert shouldered the gun and followed Arthur, trying not to look behind him.

"Did you find anything?" Ivan asked them.

Alfred looked over at his brother and friend when they came back out of the cellar. "A gun and a weird book?"

"Yeah. Strange, huh?" Gilbert said. He decided not to mention the noises he heard.

"That book looks old," Ivan said, noticing the thing tucked under Arthur's arm.

"Yeah. I'm going to try to translate it! It's written in some strange language." Arthur smiled, excited at having something new to put his translating abilities to.

At the sound of the excitement in his friend's voice, Ivan couldn't help but shake his head amusedly. He looked over at Alfred.

"Oh boy. There he goes..."

Alfred laughed a little bit at that. His brother did like weird, old shit. "Well, I'm just glad it wasn't anything creepy..."

Even though that book looked rather creepy…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The fire crackled and sparked as the five sat in the living room, enjoying a relaxing evening after their little escapade into the cellar. As Arthur tirelessly began the attempt at reading the strange writing in the old book, the other four were playing a game of poker.

Alfred looked over at his two friends and at Ivan, trying to tell if any of them were bluffing. He wasn't very good at poker, but the other three had seemed to really want to play, so he'd agreed.

Elizaveta then put down her cards, and at the sight of her hand, the guys groaned.

"Again?" Gilbert exclaimed. He dropped his cards in defeat.

"She is very good..." Ivan frowned slightly, setting down his cards.

Elizaveta chuckled. "What can I say? I guess I've just got a gift." The smile on her face was unbearably smug.

Her boyfriend rolled his eyes and kissed her cheek. "Good job, Liz."

"Yeah. You're like a poker master or something!" Alfred said, raising his fist for her to pound.

Elizaveta fist bumped him, grinning a bit. "What should we do now?"

"We could watch a movie," Ivan suggested. "I brought my laptop, and Arthur did as well."

"What kind of movies do you have?" Alfred looked over at Ivan, grinning at the idea. He loved movies!

"Well, Arthur brought The Hobbit, and his Lord of the Rings Blu-ray extended editions," Ivan rolled his eyes, "and I have Life of Pi as well as a few other films like Star Trek and the original Star Wars…"

Gilbert snorted at that collection of movies. "What a bunch of nerds." His laugh turned into a groan as Elizaveta jammed her elbow into his ribs.

Ivan smirked. "Arthur did bring Captain America and The Avengers as well, for Alfred's sake."

Alfred grinned a little bit, happy that his brother had brought movies for him. "Thank you, Artie!" He jumped up and went over to his brother, wrapping his arm around him in a bear hug.

"Mm hmm... yes, yes, all right..." Arthur muttered absently, waving his brother away.

Frowning slightly, Alfred pulled away from his brother, curious as to what was wrong with him. He glanced over at the others, wondering if they knew what was up with Arthur.

"That book must really be something," Ivan said, walking up to stand behind Arthur after helping Gilbert and Elizaveta hook up his laptop.

"He's so obsessed with it..." Alfred sighed, looking over at his brother once more. "What's so great about that creepy old book?"

"Well, the cover seems to be made of some sort of animal skin for one thing," Arthur said, holding up the book to show them the front of it.

Alfred made a face and moved away from his brother. "That's really gross, Artie..."

"I know," his brother sniggered, which made Alfred roll his eyes. Arthur was always interested in the macabre.

"Plus, get a load of these illustrations in here," Arthur continued. He opened the book wider for Alfred and Ivan to see.

At the frightening images, Alfred backed away even more. "Arthur, stop it! You know I don't like stuff like that!"

Arthur winced. "Sorry, Al. Got a little excited is all..."

"Hmph. You're a jerk." Grumbling, Alfred crossed his arms and looked away.

Ivan sighed and patted Alfred on the head. "It's alright. It's just a book."

"Hey Al! We're starting Avengers!" Gilbert exclaimed. He and Elizaveta were cuddling on the sofa with the laptop in front of them.

"Okay!" Turning away from his brother and Ivan, Alfred hurried over to his friends, eager to get away from the book.

"You shouldn't be so mean to your brother, Arthur..." Ivan said quietly.

Arthur looked up from his book and stared him straight in the face. "I didn't mean to be."

"I know that... Maybe you should come watch the movie with us?" Ivan smiled a bit, wanting to get his friend away from the book.

"Good idea... But one moment," Arthur said. He ushered Ivan to look at the book.

"Can you translate this little bit? I'm having a hard time with it."

Looking over the words, Ivan frowned a bit. "It's very old and worn out but it says something about... the dead? Or demons."

"Ahhh just as I suspected. You know what this must be, then, my friend?" Arthur whispered, so as not to disturb the movie.

Ivan glanced at his friend, raising an eyebrow. "Why would something like this be here...?"

Arthur shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. Perhaps someone unearthed it and they decided to leave it here for safe keeping... Maybe this book has some historical value like the Egyptian Book of the Dead."

"We should take it back to the university. I'm sure our language professors would love to see this. Now will you come watch the movie with us?" Ivan smiled, once again trying to get his friend away from the book.

Arthur nodded, liking his friend's idea. He closed the book and joined the others huddled around the laptop. After all, the book would be there when the movie was over.

**… … …**

The friends watched the movie, occasionally having to shush Alfred from his giddy fanboy exclamations. It was a pleasant way to end their first day at the cabin and once night fell, the friends separated into their different rooms.

Alfred climbed to the top bunk, grinning down at Gilbert. "See, this place isn't so bad, Gil!"

Gilbert shrugged and nestled into his blankets. "Nah... I guess you're right," he answered.

Meanwhile, Arthur was once again looking over the book, trying not to be too noisy so Ivan could get some rest. Flipping to a new page, he frowned a little bit. There was something strange written in the book... Squinting at it, he murmured softly, trying to figure out what it said.

"Kunda... astratta... montosse... can'da...?" Was that right?

He frowned a little. What type of language was it? Latin? Greek? Maybe Sumerian, he thought in astonishment. His eyes drifted over the pages, when he saw words scratched next to the chant in red ink:

"DO NOT SAY ALOUD."

Seeing that, Arthur frowned a little bit. "Oops..." Hopefully this book didn't have any real magic in it...

But even as he flipped through the pages one last time before bed, the scratched notes appeared more and more.

"LEAVE THIS BOOK ALONE."

"FOR THE LOVE OF THE HOLY GOD, DO NOT READ."

"BURN THIS IMMEDIATELY."

A strong wind slammed against the window shutters, making everyone in the cabin jump.

"G-Gil...? What's with the weather...?" Alfred looked over the edge of the bed again, scared.

"Hmm?" Gil turned on his side. He had nearly fallen asleep when Alfred spoke.

"The wind is making scary noises..."

_Wow... really?_ Gilbert thought to himself. Alfred _was_ his best friend, but there were some times when he had to just roll his eyes at how scared the guy could get over the smallest things.

"It's just a thunder storm, Al," he said groggily

"But it's really loud, Gil! And I don't hear any thunder!" Alfred pouted at his friend. "Can you check it out...?"

Gil sighed. "Sure, Al... Sure..." He rolled out of the bunk (thankfully without bumping his head. He had become a master at that, what with having to share a room with a younger brother) and went up to the window. To his surprise, it didn't look like it was raining. He opened the window and felt the wind on his face.

Alfred watched Gilbert, huddling under his blankets with only his face peeking out. "Do you see anything weird out there...?"

Gilbert was about to shake his head no when suddenly, he heard it.

_Join us... Join us..._

It was that faint, growling voice again. Gilbert felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and he gripped the window.

"Gil...?" Why wasn't his friend saying anything? "Is something out there?"

He watched as Gilbert started, as if startled out of some reverie or trance.

"Um... I don't know... I'm gonna go check, okay?"

"Are you sure...?" Alfred peeked over the edge of the bed a little more. "There's flashlights in the kitchen, okay?"

"Yeah. Okay. Don't worry, man. I'm sure it's nothing." Gilbert opened the bedroom door, but before he left, he looked back at Alfred.

"If anything is out there and I get in trouble, keep an eye out for Liz, ok?"

Alfred nodded. "Of course! I'll protect her!" Though Alfred was sure that they both knew Elizaveta would probably be the one protecting them if anything happened.

Gilbert smiled and left the bedroom, heading for the kitchen. By this time, everyone was in bed and the fire in the living room had died down to mere embers.

Finding flashlight in the cupboard under the sink, Gilbert headed outside via the backdoor while Alfred sat on his bed, huddled in his blankets, hoping that his friend would be alright.

**… … …**

The wind had died down to a soft breeze, which continued to sound like words to Gilbert. He was sure that someone was pranking them. After all, the wind couldn't speak. It made sense to him: someone had been in the cabin before them, and had decided to hide in the cellar until after dark to scare them. Whoever they were, he had heard them in the cellar, and now they were leading him on a wild goose chase outside. Well, they wouldn't do anything to his friends, or to Liz. He would make sure of that.

Reassured that he would find who was doing this and show them not to mess with him and his friends, Gilbert walked further from the cabin. "Where are you, asshole?"

There was no answer, save the sound of the trees swaying in the wind.

Gilbert grit his teeth and walked further away from the cabin and towards the woods.

Back at the cabin, Alfred sat in his and Gilbert's room, trying to hear what Gilbert was doing outside. Why wasn't he coming back inside yet?

**… … …**

The wind picked up again, whipping tree branches into Gilbert's face. He shoved them aside as he continued walking. That blasted voice was still around here somewhere; he could hear it. At one point it sounded like he was right behind it, yet the next instant, it was at his ear.

He spun around, waving the flashlight wildly.

"Come on out and face me, coward!" He shouted, getting angrier by the minute.

He was too angry to notice the tree branches moving on their own until they crept up his legs, tripping him and dragging him across the forest floor.

"What the-!" He couldn't believe it. Was someone pulling some sort of trick on him?!

"Let me go!" He shouted. "This isn't funny!" The branches tightened, cutting off circulation in his legs.

Holy shit, the forest was actually trying to attack him! What the hell was going on?! Gilbert struggled some more, smacking the branches with his hands. With a frantic cry, he kicked at the branches wrapped around his legs and after several futile attempts he was finally able to untangle himself. He struggled to his feet, and began to run in a random direction. He stumbled and fell, scratching his arms on some scattered rocks littered on the forest floor. Even then, he could hear the creaking sound of wood right behind him and he scrambled to his feet again, running in a dead sprint.

**…. …. ….**

The forest continued to make strange noises, creeping out Alfred as he sat in his room. Deciding to be brave and go see what Gilbert was doing, Alfred climbed down the bunk bed and hesitantly walked over to the front door. He could no longer hear Gilbert yelling at the possible pranksters and he hoped nothing bad had happened to him.

**… …. …**

Feeling like he had outrun whatever thing was chasing him, Gilbert began to feel a sense of relief. If he was going in the right direction, he'd hightail it back to the cabin and would board up that place until morning.

**WHAP. **

Something smacked him dead in the face and he toppled back into a thick brush full of thorns. His shirt and pants were caught in the thick plantation and he frantically tried to untangle himself. Blood trickled from several areas on his face and arms. He cried out in pain as he began to stand up, but the worse was not yet behind him. The branches came, knocking him down and pinning him to the ground by the arms and legs. Gilbert struggled some more, squirming and managing to break free once more. He took off in a terrified run, heading in the direction he thought the cabin was in.

**… …. …**

Hesitating in front of the door, Alfred took a deep breath and opened it. Outside the small circle of light from the door, he could see nothing. Where had Gilbert gone?

"Alfred?" He jumped nearly a foot at the sound of Elizaveta behind him.

"Is everything all right?" She asked.

"I... I d-don't know where Gil is..." Alfred looked back at his friend before turning his gaze back to the forest.

"What? What do you mean? Where did he go?"

"There were scary noises and he said he'd take care of them... I was too scared to go with him... Liz, I'm sorry!"

"It-It's okay," she said, in an attempt to reassure him. She patted him on the arm, trying to mask the anxiety that was slowly growing inside her.

"I'm sure he's okay."

A noise in front of the cabin drew their attention and Alfred clung to Elizaveta's arm, scared that it might be whatever Gilbert had gone after. However, seeing Gilbert emerge from the trees made him breathe a sigh of relief. "Gilbert!"

Elizaveta slowly exhaled a sigh of her own that she hadn't realized she was holding. She smiled at the sight of her boyfriend coming towards them, but upon further inspection, she realized that something didn't seem right.

Gilbert wasn't just walking. He wasn't even running. He was stumbling and limping. Elizaveta frowned.

"Gil?" She called. He raised his head and upon seeing her, he fell over.

Elizaveta and Alfred both ran over to Gilbert, helping him up and into the cabin. Once inside, Alfred locked the door before helping Elizaveta set Gilbert down on the couch. "I-Is he okay...?"

Elizaveta didn't say anything. She just stared at the man lying on the couch. His clothes were torn, his arms and face were bleeding. Not only that, but blood was trickling out of his mouth, his nose and even his ears. But what really worried her was the fact that there were red and purple marks circling his neck, as if someone had attempted to strangle him.

"G-Gil..." Her voice caught. "Answer me, baby," she said quietly, stroking his hair.

Not knowing what else to do, Alfred hurried to go wake up his brother. He burst into Arthur and Ivan's room and shook his brother. "Wake up, Artie!"

His brother grumbled and opened his eyes, looking at Alfred. "Alfred, it's late... You didn't have a nightmare, did you?"

"No!" Alfred turned a bit red in embarrassment but continued to shake his brother. "Someone bad happened to Gilbert and we don't know what!"

"What?" Arthur slowly sat up in bed. They could hear Ivan stirring up above.

"What's going on?" Ivan mumbled.

"Something's wrong with Gilbert! He's really hurt, Artie, and I don't know what to do!" Alfred tugged on his brother's arm, trying to get him out of bed already.

Arthur rubbed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair.

"You awake?" He knocked on the bottom of the bunk above him.

"Yeah. You said something's wrong with Gilbert?" Ivan queried, peering down at Alfred.

Alfred nodded, looking really distressed. "Do either of you know first aid...? It looks like something attacked him."

Ivan hopped down from the bunk. "I saw a first aid kit in the kitchen..."

Dragging Ivan out of the room, since Arthur was taking forever to get up, Alfred led the way to the kitchen. Sure enough, there was a first aid kit underneath the sink and Ivan and Alfred joined Liz by the sofa where Gilbert lay.

Ivan winced at the sight of Gilbert. "What happened?" he whispered.

"I d-don't know..." Elizaveta hadn't moved from Gilbert's side, holding his hand gently. "He came out of the forest and then passed out when he saw us."

"Oh boy..." Ivan sighed as he opened the first aid kit. He blankly stared down at the many varieties of bandages. "My sister is the nurse..." he said sheepishly.

Alfred looked through the first aid kit as well, trying to see what they could use. "Here's some alcohol swabs..." He handed them to Elizaveta, who gently tried to clean the cuts Gilbert had gotten.

Gilbert winced and groaned, but did not waken.

"Sorry, Gil," she whispered.

Ivan continued to hand Elizaveta the medical supplies as she asked for them. "Alfred, what happened...? Do you know why Gilbert went outside?"

The blond teenager fidgeted for a moment, before nodding. "The wind was being really loud and it scared me... Gil thought he heard something outside so he went to check on it. I should have gone with him but I was too scared... He's my best friend. I should have gone with him."

"He should have woken the rest of us up..." Elizaveta said quietly. "Or at least grabbed that shotgun he and Arthur found." She lowered her gaze from Alfred and stared at the injured man. "Idiot..." she whispered."He thinks he can handle everything by himself..."

"I'm really sorry, Liz..." Alfred felt like such an idiot for letting his friend go out on his own. With a sigh, he sat down on the arm of the couch, watching Gilbert and hoping for him to wake up.

It was at that time that Arthur entered the scene. His eyes widened at the sight of Gilbert.

Ivan glanced over at his friend, frowning slightly. "He still has not woken up... Are there any dangerous animals in this forest?"

Arthur didn't say anything at first. He took a deep breath, ran his hands through his hair again, and let the breath out. His hair now stuck up in all sorts of directions.

"No one told me of any... But who can say for sure?"

Setting down the first aid kit, Ivan went over to his friend. "Well, do we have anything that can calm down those two?" He gestured to Alfred and Elizaveta, who were practically glued to Gilbert's side.

Arthur frowned. "I don't know… If you mean a sedative… well… if push comes to shove, I think I saw a bottle of something in the fridge..." He said.

"Something...?" Ivan raised an eyebrow at that. "I hope you do not mean to give alcohol to them."

"Of course not! I'm just looking at all our options… That would be a last resort," Arthur said firmly. "I didn't put it there so I made sure no one touched it."

He glanced over at the other three, trying to figure out what would be best.

Alfred glanced up before looking back down at Gilbert. "Maybe..."

"Maybe what?" Arthur asked.

"Maybe we can take him to a doctor...?"

"We should," Arthur agreed. "But I don't know if we should move him... Who knows if he sustained any internal injuries?"

"Then we really should get him to a doctor!" Elizaveta stood up, frowning at Arthur. "I'm not going to sit here while he might be badly hurt!"

Suddenly, there was the sound of a gasp, and everyone turned to see Gilbert's eyes flutter open.

"Gil?'" Al exclaimed.

"Oh, Gil..." Sitting next to her boyfriend again, Elizaveta squeezed his hand gently. "How do you feel?"

He stared wildly around for a moment, as if he had forgotten where he was. Suddenly, he sat up and grasped Elizaveta by the arms.

"Liz!" he gasped.

"W-What?" She stared at him, worry clear on her face. "Gil, is everything okay?"

"I'm going to get him some water," Arthur said, quickly walking to the kitchen.

"Liz..." Gil whispered again. He pulled her closer. His eyes were practically wild from fear.

Elizaveta let Gilbert pull her closer, hoping he would tell her what had happened.

"I... We... We ...have... have to ... to get out of here..."

"O-Of course... I'll take you to the doctor, okay?"

"No!" He hissed. His shaking hands grasped her tighter. "You have to listen to me... okay?"

"I am... I just said I'll get you out of here..." What else could Gilbert mean?

"There was something _out _there... something in the woods... It attacked me..."

"What did? Was it an animal...?" Elizaveta glanced at Alfred, who was listening to them with wide eyes. The blond teen just shrugged.

"No... No... I thought it was... I thought I had heard it in the cellar... But... then they grabbed me... The trees grabbed me! It was the trees!"

"The trees...?" Frowning, Elizaveta gently pulled herself away from Gilbert. "Alright. Can you stand? I'll help you to the car."

Arthur came back with the water and before Gilbert stood, he helped him drink.

"Do you want to take him to the hospital, Elizaveta?" he asked.

Elizaveta nodded as she helped Gilbert stand. "Yes. I think that would be best, to make sure he didn't get too hurt."

As she and Alfred helped him walk to the door, Ivan and Arthur exchanged glances.

"He seems to be in shock," Ivan said quietly.

Arthur nodded, frowning as he watched the teenagers put Gilbert into the car. He watched as Alfred handed the keys to Elizaveta before giving her a hug. "Do you think he'll be alright?"

"I don't know," Ivan answered honestly. "What did he mean when he said the trees attacked him?"

"Maybe he was hallucinating? He could have gotten trapped in some brambles and in the dark it may seem like the trees attacked him?"

"I suppose so..." Ivan mused. "But how do you explain the marks around his neck?"

The marks had been bright red and painful looking. Arthur frowned as he thought about them. "I'm not sure... I suppose the hospital will be able to tell."

Ivan nodded, but he was still worried. No local animal made marks that looked like the ones on Gilbert's neck.

Alfred came back into the cabin, looking a bit pale as he watched Elizaveta drive off with Gilbert. "He kept talking about the trees..."

The three just stared at each other, incredibly confused and gradually becoming more nervous by the minute.

**… …. …**

Meanwhile, Elizaveta was driving the car while trying to keep an eye on Gilbert. She was really worried about her boyfriend. He kept mumbling about the trees, which only made her more nervous.

"Everything's gonna be all right, Gil... We'll just get you to the hospital and they'll see if anything is wrong..." She spoke softly, as if she was trying to convince not only Gilbert but herself as well.

Gilbert groaned to himself, keeping his gaze away from the trees outside the car windows.

"Are you gonna be sick?" Elizaveta asked, reaching over to touch him on the arm. "Do I need to pull over?"

Looking up at her, Gilbert shook his head. "Keep going... We have to leave..."

"Okay..." she whispered. After a few more minutes of tense silence between the two of them, she found herself sighing in relief for some reason when she spotted the "Bridge Ahead" sign.

The relief was short lived, however, when she drove up to the bridge and came to a halt. Gilbert looked up at her again, wondering why the car had suddenly stopped. He turned his gaze out the windshield, his eyes widening at the sight.

The bridge was gone. All that was left were the iron support beams that looked as though some giant had bent them back.

"What in the world...?" Elizaveta whispered, her eyes widening. She heard the sound of the passenger door open as Gilbert got out of the car.

"Gil! Wait!"

Stumbling out in front of the car, Gilbert stared at the bridge before falling to his knees. "It's not going to let us leave..."

"Gil! Come back to the car..." She tried to take him by the arm, but he pushed her away.

"It's not going to let us leave..." He kept muttering this over and over until his voice rose to a frantic pitch.

* * *

**A.N.:** let's see if you can now guess what we're crossing Hetalia over with~ ;)


	3. Chapter 3

Elizaveta had driven Gilbert back to the cabin as fast as she could, not wanting to stay outside in the woods longer than necessary. She wrapped a blanket around Gilbert and let him sit down where he wanted before telling the others what had happened.

They were all pretty shaken at the news that the bridge was out.

"What in the world is going on...?" Arthur muttered under his breath.

Ivan glanced over at his friend, frowning a little bit before looking back at Elizaveta, who was now trying to calm Alfred down. Arthur's brother seemed to get scared easily... "I... I will start a fire." He went over to the fireplace, hoping that the fire would warm the room and make it seem less dreary.

Gilbert hadn't said a word ever since he had returned with Elizaveta. He just sat there on a chair by the window, huddled in the blanket, remaining very still.

"It's okay, Al. We'll just wait till morning and then think about what we should do," Liz said to the nervous Alfred.

Nodding a bit at his friend's words, Alfred gave her a hug before moving over to the fire that Ivan was starting. The warmth made him feel a little bit better but it did not fully ease his nerves.

Ivan glanced over at Elizaveta and nodded to Gilbert. "Is he okay?" he asked her

Elizaveta sighed softly and shook her head. "I don't think so... Whatever he saw really frightened him."

Ivan nodded and worriedly looked at Gilbert further. When the two of them had returned, he had been rambling on and on about something not letting them leave the cabin – whatever that meant. The young man really needed to get to a hospital...

"Well..." Arthur hesitantly spoke up. "Should we perhaps... watch another movie to pass the time? I don't think any of us will get any more sleep tonight." He smiled feebly.

"Can we watch Captain America...?" Alfred looked up at his brother, obviously still upset. A superhero movie sounded like the best thing right now. They could all watch the movie together and forget about scary noises and creepy books.

Arthur smiled sympathetically at him and nodded. "Of course we can," he answered.

Elizaveta glanced over at Gilbert to see if he had heard them. Gilbert had said he liked that film. But the young man just continued to stare out the window.

Ivan closed the grate over the fire before getting his laptop. "We can watch it by the fire so we can stay warm." He smiled a bit at Alfred, hoping that would help comfort the teenager.

Smiling a little bit in return, Alfred nodded before looking over at Gilbert. "Gil...? Do you wanna watch the movie with us...?"

The young man said nothing, but began to shake. It was subtle at first but gradually became worse. It started in his hands, went up his arms and spread over his whole body until even his teeth could be heard clacking together.

"Gilbert...?" Elizaveta frowned and hurried over to her boyfriend. "What's wrong? Are you cold? Let's get you closer to the fire, okay? That'll keep you warm."

She bent down to smile at him, trying to get him to make eye contact with her.

Suddenly, the lights flickered.

Then they went out.

Elizaveta's eyes widened at that and began urging Gilbert to stand up. "Okay, Gil, let's stay by the fire." She became anxious when she couldn't get him to budge.

"Liz...?" Alfred looked over at his friends, squinting at them in the light of the fire.

Suddenly the lights flashed on again and the windows and doors slammed open and shut. As the rest of the group stared and cowered in fear, Gilbert remained still. Then he turned to them with blackened, empty eyes.

Alfred covered his ears, flinching at the noises. His brother ran over to him, putting an arm around him.

"It's alright, Alfred..." Though the last thing Arthur felt at the moment was all right. His heart was slamming in his chest.

Gilbert leered at them, smiling in a way that his two friends had never seen before.

"What's wrong with his eyes...?" Alfred whispered, his own eyes widening in fear. His friend's eyes had always been a pale red due to his albinism but now... Now they were dark and clouded over.

"Gil?" Elizaveta asked, hesitant.

He opened his mouth as if to answer, but instead of Gilbert's voice, there came a high pitched shriek.

The four jumped at the cry, with Ivan quickly pulling Elizaveta closer to him.

"Maybe one of his wounds got infected?" Arthur asked, though he had never known any infection that could cause Gilbert's current behavior.

"Gilbert doesn't scream like that!" Alfred exclaimed. He had never heard someone yell in such a way. It sounded like someone in extreme, relentless pain.

"Alfred, calm down!" Arthur held his brother's shoulders, keeping him seated on the ground so he wouldn't run over to his friend.

Elizaveta shook off Ivan's hand and rushed over to Gilbert. "Gil, baby, it's me."

"Elizaveta, be careful!" Arthur shouted.

She just grabbed her boyfriend by the arms and lightly shook him. "Gil!"

"You have awoken us..." He whispered.

Elizaveta's eyes widened at that and she winced as Gilbert dug his nails into her arms. "G-Gil, that hurts!"

Her boyfriend only responded by shoving her back, his hands clawing at her.

"Why did you wake us?" He howled.

"What is he talking about?" Alfred hissed.

"I don't know..." Arthur frowned and got up, hurrying over to drag Elizaveta away from Gilbert. Ivan grabbed Gilbert, pulling him away, wincing as his nails left bloody scratches along Elizaveta's body. Slobber and a strange black substance slowly dripped out of Gilbert's mouth as he continued to howl and shriek.

"We must have souls to feed!"

"Gilbert! Get a hold of yourself!" Ivan shouted.

Dragging Elizaveta away, Arthur set her down next to Alfred before rushing to help Ivan in restraining Gilbert. It was no easy task but the two of them managed to drag Gilbert to the cellar and dump him down the stairs. With one last unearthly howl, Gilbert said one final thing before they slammed the door down on him:

"You all are going to die tonight!"

Arthur slammed the cellar door shut and Ivan quickly chained it up.

Meanwhile, Alfred and Elizaveta sat wide eyed near the fire, staring at the cellar door. Alfred was the first to break the silence.

"What... what happened to Gilbert...?"

Arthur ran his hands through his hair. "I don't know Al..."

"His eyes... what happened to his eyes?!"

"I don't know!" Arthur shouted back.

"Why not?! You're supposed to know everything!" Alfred let a few tears slip down his cheeks, fear rising in him.

"Ok, ok, let's all remain calm," Ivan said, raising his hands, trying to speak in a gentle tone. But even his voice was beginning to shake.

"Where's that blasted first aid kit?" Arthur muttered. "We should take care of these scratches..."

Elizaveta looked down at her legs, wincing at the sight of blood. They didn't hurt too badly, but she let Arthur get the first aid kit anyway. While she waited, she scooted closer to Alfred and pulled him into a hug. "We'll figure this out." But her voice cracked as tears welled up in her eyes.

"I... I hope so, Liz..." He shakily responded. At that moment, Arthur called him over to help them, and he went over to the kitchen.

Elizaveta looked over at the cellar door. It remained quiet and she wondered if Gil was all right. She slowly ran her hands up her arms and held herself tightly. That person… (She could hardly call him Gilbert) That was not her boyfriend. Gilbert would never hurt her, nor would he ever scream or make such unearthly noises as that… thing had just done. Tears threatened to spill over and she swallowed, trying to battle the tightness in her throat. He had been fine just hours ago! What had happened to him in the forest?!

Ivan went over to Elizaveta, frowning at the scratches. "We'll get these cleaned up, so don't worry." He forced a smile at her, glad that she was at least trying to stay fairly calm about all of this.

She nodded and swallowed again, blinking away tears.

"Here," Ivan handed her some bandages. "You got pretty scratched up. He didn't ... hurt you badly, did he?"

"No..." They're just scratches. I'll be alright." Smiling a bit, Elizaveta took the bandages and alcohol swabs from Ivan. She started to clean up the blood, sighing softly. "What's wrong with Gilbert...?"

Ivan sat down next to her and ran his hand over his arm, trying to soothe her.

"I don't know... He doesn't have any special issues or anything, right? No anxiety attacks or anything?"

Elizaveta shook her head. "No... He doesn't use drugs either. You can even ask Alfred, they've known each other since they were kids."

"Hmm..." Ivan glanced over to see the two brothers still going through another, smaller first aid kit. It seemed that Arthur had taken some nasty blows to the face. Suddenly, there was a small sound from the cellar, as if Gilbert was shuffling up the stairs.

Alfred was cleaning and bandaging his brother's face, having calmed down a little bit, when the noises from the cellar started up. He froze, his eyes flicking over to the trap door.

"Gil?" Elizaveta made a move to go check on him. She slowly approached the cellar, despite Ivan's cautionary objections to be careful.

"Gil?" She bent over and cautiously stared at the cellar door.

"Liz..." a faint voice was heard. It sounded like Gilbert.

"Gilbert!" Elizaveta knelt down next to the cellar door, pulling it open as much as the lock and chain would allow. "Gil...?"

Arthur glanced over at her, frowning. "Elizaveta, we don't know what's wrong with him yet..."

"He sounds hurt!" She exclaimed frantically. "Open the door!"

"Liz... help me..." Gilbert moaned.

Ivan frowned, shoving the key to the lock into his pocket. "He attacked you..."

She glared at them and clawed at the trap door, trying to open it despite the chains. She was able to get a faint glance at the cellar down below through the crack.

"Gil! I'm right here! Can you hear me?"

"Liz... It hurts... You can let me out. I'm okay now..."

Alfred wandered over to his friend, tugging his arm out of Arthur's hand as his brother tried to hold him back.

"Don't worry, Gil," she said soothingly. "I'll get you out."

Suddenly a hand shot up from the crack in the door and Alfred caught a glimpse of a blade before it sunk into Elizaveta's arm. She screamed in shock and in pain.

Alfred's eyes widened as he watched Gilbert's hand stab his own girlfriend and he let out a fearful scream of his own.

Ivan rushed over and pushed the teenagers out of the way before stomping the trapdoor down onto Gilbert's, no, that _thing's_ hand. The thing in the cellar screeched and pulled the hand back.

The blade was still lodged in her arm as Ivan and Alfred pulled Elizaveta further away from the cellar. She shakily clutched at her arm and just stared at the cellar door.

Cursing, Arthur ran over to them. "Elizaveta... You need to hold still. I need you to hold still."

Elizaveta nodded and gripped the hand that Ivan offered to her. She let out a hiss as Arthur slowly pulled the knife out before quickly cleaning the wound and pressing gauze onto it. Blood was slowly trickling down her arm, staining her shirt and pants. As she pressed the gauze down on to her arm, she said shakily, "I think I'm going to clean this up in the bathroom... okay?" She couldn't stay in this room any longer.

"Alright..." Arthur handed her the first aid kit in case she needed to use anything else in it.

"Thanks..." Getting up, Elizaveta went into the bathroom, intent on cleaning her arm properly and not wanting to be near what had been her boyfriend.

Just as soon as she had left, the cellar door began to shake, slamming against the chains as if that thing that they had called Gilbert just hours ago was trying to get out. His face peered out to them, now discolored and grinning distortedly at them and the three guys stared at the thing Gilbert had become. Alfred looked away quickly, hiding his face against his brother's shoulder.

The thing laughed at them until Ivan had enough and slammed the cellar down door again.

"You're all going to die!" It jeered from inside. "We will feast on your souls!"

Arthur frowned. "Oh shut up. You're not going to be feasting on anyone's souls tonight or ever."

"What is all this, Arthur?" Ivan said intensely. "Surely you've read up on weird stuff like this?"

"I... Well, similar things... I'll go check the book..." Arthur gave his brother a reassuring side-hug before going back to his room to research more of the book. As he made his way to the bedroom, he heard the sound of glass breaking and paused. It seemed to be coming from the bathroom...

Alfred and Ivan heard the sound as well, with the teenager getting up. "I'll go check on her... Maybe she fell down from blood loss... or something..." Worried, he hurried to the bathroom.

Ivan frowned. _It sounded more like she broke the mirror,_ he thought.

Arthur glanced at his brother, trying to give him a reassuring smile before heading into his bedroom.

Nervous, Alfred went into Elizaveta's room, which was connected to her small bathroom. The door to the bathroom was closed, which made Alfred frown. "Liz...?" He tried the handle, frowning when the door wouldn't budge. There was a strange, _wet_ plopping noise coming from the bathroom, worrying him more. "Lizzie, open the door..."

He jiggled the handle several times, but to no avail. By now, he was getting incredibly nervous and the need to get inside grew. He backed away from the door a little and then rammed his shoulder against it, trying to knock it in. Once, twice, the door didn't budge.

Third time was the charm, though, and he broke the lock, stumbling into the bathroom.

The first thing he heard was a low, dull sound, like someone was sawing through some leather in a rapid motion. Alfred squinted in the dim light. What was Liz doing? Hopefully she wasn't trying to do her own stitches?! He stepped further into the bathroom as his eyes grew accustomed to the flickering light.

The scene before him was worse than anything from his nightmares or from the horror movies he begged Arthur to watch with him. The bathroom floor was slick with blood and what looked like lumps of flesh. Bile rose in Alfred's throat and his eyes landed on the hunched figure of Elizaveta sitting on the shower floor.

"L-Lizzie...?" Alfred took a hesitant step toward his friend, scared for her because there was so much blood all over her... And that awful noise continued… What was that?!

Slowly, Elizaveta turned to look at him. She held a piece of glass in her hand, sawing away at the remaining skin of her jaw. The mauled remains of her mouth pulled up into a grin at the sight of Alfred.

Alfred screamed.

Both Arthur and Ivan rushed to the bathroom at the scream, with Arthur getting there first. He slipped on the blood and collapsed on his stomach, staring up at the gruesome sight before them.

"What did you do?" He heard Alfred scream. "Why did you do that to your face?!"

"Alfred, get out!" Arthur shouted, sliding away from Elizaveta as she raised her arm with the glass shard in hand. She screamed at them.

Cursing in Russian, Ivan grabbed Alfred, trying to drag the teenager away from the gory scene in the bathroom. It was a bit of a struggle, since Alfred wouldn't stay still. The boy kept trying to get to his friend, crying her name.

Arthur glared back at Ivan. "Get him out of here, now!" The distraction cost him, though, as he felt the glass shard dig into his arm. "Fuck!" He turned back to see Elizaveta giggling, blood bubbling out of her mouth. Shoving her back, Arthur yanked the glass shard out of his arm.

Ivan had managed to drag Alfred out of the bathroom, but before Arthur could follow them, the bathroom door slammed shut.

"Arthur!" Ivan shouted.

When the door slammed shut, Alfred squirmed out of Ivan's arms and ran at the door, trying to open it. "Artie!" The door refused to budge, no matter how hard he slammed himself against it.

Elizaveta lunged for him and Arthur fell back onto more glass shards, with Elizaveta crawling on top of him, still giggling and glaring at him with clouded, crimson eyes.

Arthur struggled with Elizaveta, managing to shove her off of him. He turned to try opening the door, only to have Elizaveta grab him and throw him back with inhuman strength. He fell against the toilet, feeling the porcelain shatter beneath him. He would definitely have a massive bruise on his back later on.

Elizaveta grabbed fistfuls of his hair and rammed his head hard against the remains of the toilet bowl. Again and again. He in turn tried to grab pieces of the glass to stab her and he caught her in the chest several times. That didn't stop her, however.

After he was slammed into the toilet again, Arthur groaned and grabbed a large piece of the lid from the tank. He spun around, slamming the lid into Elizaveta's head. She fell to the ground and before she could get up again, Arthur slammed the lid down onto her head repeatedly, watching pieces of her skull and brain mixing with the blood on the floor and splattering on his face.

When she finally stilled, Arthur stumbled back and groped for the door, practically tumbling out of the bathroom when the door opened for him. Immediately two pairs of hands grabbed his arms and he was hauled out to the living room and on to the couch.

"The door..." he groaned."Close the...door..." he rasped. Blood soaked his shirt, dotted his face, and the back of his head was stained red. He had to blink several times before his eyes could focus on anything.

Before Ivan could stop him, Alfred ran over to the bathroom. He stopped in the doorway, staring at the body of his friend. Falling to his knees, he bent over, emptying the contents of his stomach onto the floor.

Ivan followed him, gently covering Alfred's eyes and rubbing his back. "Don't look..."

His heart began beating faster as the faint sound of giggling began coming from the body. Ivan's eyes widened and he grabbed Alfred by the collar of his shirt.

"Out," he hissed. "Go. Don't say anything. Get out."

He basically tossed Alfred out of the bathroom. Then Elizaveta's head whirled around in an unhealthy way to face him. He could hear the cracking of her neck bones. The mauled skin on her face hung in tatters but she still smiled at him, exposing a bloodied mouth, rows of teeth and a small stub where the tongue was supposed to be. Ivan shoved Alfred back further, making sure to block the view of the bathroom from the younger boy. He stumbled for the doorway and slammed the door shut before the body could begin moving toward him.

Once the door was closed, he grabbed a dresser and dragged it out into the hallway, shoving it in front of the bedroom door. Turning to look at Alfred, he sighed as he noticed that the boy had started crying again.

"Come on... Let's get back to Arthur." He carefully helped Arthur up and led him back to the living room. "Sit with your brother."

Alfred nodded and sat on the couch, being careful to leave most of the couch for his injured brother.

"What happened?" Arthur asked, looking up at Ivan's haggard face.

"You didn't kill her..." he answered.

Arthur frowned at that, especially when his brother started to cry harder. Lifting his uninjured arm, he rubbed Alfred's back, trying to calm him down. "Please don't cry, Alfred..."

"They're... Gil and Liz... they... it's like some sort of Exorcist thing or something is happening!" he cried. "Why?!"

"I... I don't know, Alfred..." Though Arthur did have some idea of what might have happened. "Ivan, did you get the first aid kit...?"

"Oh right..." He went over to get the kit from the kitchen, glancing at both the cellar door and Elizaveta's bedroom door down the hall all the while. He brought it over to the two brothers and helped Arthur clean up the wound on his shoulder.

"We need to conserve bandages because we've only got one kit now..." Arthur muttered.

Alfred sniffled, helping Ivan and Arthur as best as he could with his shaking hands. "I w-want to go home, Arthur..."

His brother nodded. He was beginning to want to go home as well. His shoulder was killing him and he was afraid his head had taken severe trauma. It was still hard for him to see things clearly. He was afraid, though; afraid of what he was going to tell Gilbert and Elizaveta's parents.

"I want to go home, Arthur! I want to go home, Arthur!" Gilbert whined, mimicking Alfred from under the cellar door.

"Sh-Shut up!" Alfred yelled at the cellar door. His brother wrapped an arm around him, sighing softly.

"Shut up! Shut up! Eheheh, what a big baby!" Gilbert laughed loudly.

Ivan sighed softly and got some ice out of the freezer. He wrapped the cubes in a towel before walking back into the living room. "This will be cold but it will hopefully stop any swelling. Would you like us to help you to your room so you can rest?"

"The book... I need to see the book..." Arthur muttered.

"Of course." Carefully helping his friend up, Ivan lead Arthur to their bedroom and made him sit on the bed.

Alfred went to sit by the fire when the two left the room. He covered his ears, trying to block out of the sound of Gilbert's laughter.

Ivan picked up the book from the desk before sitting next to his friend. "Arthur... is there something in here that is related to what is happening?"

Arthur slowly opened the massive volume and began flipping through it with his good arm.

"The... the book is some sort of tome for the underworld..." he said in a shaking voice. "And... I think by reading a chant you can ... um... summon spirits from ..." he paused and nodded to the floor. "From down there..."

Ivan frowned. "Is there any way we can stop them?"

"I don't know... I'll have to keep reading to find out." Arthur sighed softly before glancing at the door. "Will you take care of Alfred? I want you to promise me, Ivan, that if anything happens to me, you'll keep Alfred safe."

"Of course," Ivan said quietly. "But don't start thinking like that yet. We're still alive."

"I know. I don't intend to die. I just need to be sure that if I'm incapacitated, in any way, that he'll be safe." Arthur smiled a bit. "I know I can trust you." Looking back at the book, he sighed softly. "I'll try to see what I can do about stopping this. For now, will you distract Alfred?"

Ivan nodded. "I'll also keep an eye on Gil - I mean... that thing... And listen for the bathroom. She's still alive in there."

"I know..." Arthur sighed, watching as his friend left the room. Making himself comfortable, he skimmed through the book, trying to find anything that could put a stop to all of this. That's when he came upon a small page of scribbled notes attached to the back pages of the book.

_I've figured out a way you can kill them,_ the notes read. _After my wife became possessed by the demons, I learned that the only way to stop them is by performing any of these three things: dismemberment, burning or burying the body alive. I found that burning is the easiest way as dismembering and burying alive means you have to get the demon incapacitated, and with their strength, that is nigh impossible. If you are reading this, and you have unleashed these hellish beings, please keep those three things in mind._

Arthur sighed again, dog-earing the page. "So burning is easiest..." If they had a way to leave, he would suggest burning the cabin down but at this moment... "I suppose we'll have to wait until morning," he muttered to himself.


End file.
